Prisons are often far more than places with bars. They may follow us around in our daily life. He saves those He has chosen according to His own mercy. He redeems, regenerates and renews His children by His Holy Spirit. Faith comes from hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ. We are confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in us will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. May we walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. May our speech always be with grace and seasoned with salt.

The power of the tongue!

Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Proverbs 27:2 Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own

Sins of the Tongue – by James L. Melton

“Much can be said of a person’s character by the way they use their tongue. Jesus said that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” (Mat. 12:34) According to Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” In James 3:6, the Bible says that the tongue is “a fire, a world of iniquity”, and James 3:8 calls the tongue a “deadly poison.”

As a fool would carelessly play and prank with a loaded gun, so many Christians today do likewise with their deadly tongue. If only we could fully realize the untold damage that we are doing to the body of Christ! If only we could see the full effect of the words we use!

Perhaps a closer look into the Bible can help. God made man, and God made man’s tongue, so surely God should be qualified to comment on the subject. Surely God should have some good counsel concerning the use and misuse of the human tongue. Let us consider some sins of the tongue as we find them revealed in God’s word.

The Lying Tongue

Proverbs 25:18 says, “A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.” So a lying tongue is a misuse of a deadly weapon. It can be used to harm others near at hand (a maul), a few feet away (a sword), or a great distance away (an arrow). Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44), and God said that he hates a lying tongue (Pro. 6:17).

The Flattering Tongue

Flattery is also a sin of the tongue. The Bible speaks of flattery as a characteristic of the wicked, not the righteous: “For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.” (Psalm 5:9)

The Proud Tongue

The Bible also speaks of the proud tongue. Psalm 12:3-4 says, “The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things: Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?” The most annoying Christians in the world are those with proud tongues because a proud tongue usually comes with two closed ears! Proud- tongued Christians are generally so full of themselves that they learn very little from anyone else. A proud-tongued Christian will talk much of his knowledge and service.

In a church, a proud-tongued Christian will make all sorts of suggestions about how the church should function, yet his suggestions, if received, will place burdens on everyone but himself. A proud- tongued Christian is hard to teach or reason with because he thinks he knows everything.

Friend, God hates a proud tongue. Allow the Holy Spirit to use your tongue in the way of humility and kindness because pride will only quench God’s Spirit and damage your testimony.”